The Secret
by amama123
Summary: Six weeks after graduating from Hogwarts, Lily Potter disappears - leaving her family and boyfriend behind, bewildered. Five years later she returns, but she's not alone.


**It's been over a month since the last time I've updated, my apologies. I've been really busy between school, rowing and trying to develop ideas for non-fanfic stories that have been bouncing around my head for a while. I do have quite a few half-written one shots on my laptop, as well as my mid-term break coming up, so hopefully I'll be posting again soon!**

**Anyway, here is "The Secret"**

**Background information****: Lily Potter/Scorpius Malfoy.**

**Lily had been in Gryffindor in Hogwarts and she had dated the Slytherin Prince, Scorpius Malfoy for the last three years of her time there. Everyone around them had said they would be together forever. But, only six weeks after her graduation, Lily disappeared.**

** Her brother Albus found a letter saying that she needed time to figure out who she was and what she would do with her life.**

**She leaves Scorpius, heartbroken and unable to figure out why she would leave him like that.**

**Then, five years later, Albus gets another letter. It asks him to meet Lily at a Muggle train station in the countryside...**

Albus stepped off the train cautiously. He hadn't spent so much time amongst Muggles for a while, his professional Quidditch job keeping him in the Wizarding world. He was slightly uncomfortable. He was also curious as to why his baby sister hadn't simply asked him to apparate or floo to her.

His green eyes scanned the platform. He spotted his sister's unmistakeable fiery hair at the opposite end, facing away from him. He slowly made his way through the crowd. He reached his sister and before he could even say hello, he was smothered by a giant hug.

"Hey Lils. Long time no see?"

She lifted her head from it's position on his shoulder and nodded, tears in her eyes.

It was then that he noticed the small, blonde toddler on the bench beside them. He stood back from his sister. The toddler looked familiar. The platinum blonde hair, the grey eyes, the high cheekbones. The little girl was definitely a Malfoy.

"Mummy, can I get my ice-cream now?"

Albus looked from the little girl who had just spoken to his sister and back again quickly, a look of extreme confusion across his face.

Lily sighed. "This is why I asked you to visit. Albus, I need help,"

Albus looked from the little girl to his siter once more and nodded. "Lead the way Lily".

She smiled at him and motioned for the little girl to hold her hand. "Come on Cassie, let's get you some ice-cream".

After a quick stop in the local newsagents for an ice-cream, the trio arrived at a small apartment block.

Lily led the way to the lift (proving to Albus that she had run away from the Wizarding world, not just her family) and they travelled to the sixth floor. Albus followed Lily into apartment number 605. A quick scan around from the front door told him it had a single living space, with possibly two bedrooms and a bathroom.

"Cassie, why don't you go and play with your dollies? I'll be in to you in a while, I just need to have a chat with Uncle Albus" Lily asked her little girl. After following Cassie all the way into the next room with her eyes, Lily motioned for Albus to sit at the small table. She made two cups of tea and sat opposite him.

"Lily, I think you should start from the very beginning" he said.

She nodded...

"The evening of the day I graduated, Scorpius and I went to a walk around the Lake. We ended up sitting against an old oak tree. We stayed there for hours, just talking. We talked about everything really, but mostly our future. We sat there until it grew too dark to see right infront of you.

He brought me to his room in the Manor. I stayed the night and it was the first time we...err...slept together" Lily blushed tomato red while Albus struggled to get the mental image of his best mate sleeping with his baby sister out of his head. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Lily continued.

"I woke up the next morning to a lovely pancake breakfast in bed. I'm not joking, Scorpius is almost a better cook than Granny Molly. I stayed with Scorpius for a few days before going home. You probably remember the weeks I spent disparing over what I should do with my life. I eventually applied to the Healer training programme in St Mungo's.

Then, five weeks after my graduation I discovered I was pregnant.

I didn't know what to do Al. Scorpius had told me he wanted to wait until after we were married to have children. I was afraid that our family would be ashamed of me and that Scorpius' would never accept me. So I ran."

Albus took this in. He felt guilty, how could his sister have gotten the impression that her family would abandon her, when she needed them the most? He then asked "Where did you go?"

Lily took a big gulp of her tea and began again.

"I decided that I needed to leave England, I was too well known there. I travelled – the Muggle way – to Barcelona and I rented a cheap apartment in the centre. I stayed there for the rest of my pregnancy and had little Cassie in the local hospital. The poor Muggle nurses couldn't understand why I would curse my child with the name 'Cassiopeia', not knowing anything about the Black family tradition.

When Cassie turned one, I decided city life was no good for us. So again we moved, this time to a small village on the east coat of France. I rented a small cottage near the beach and stopped using my wand for roughly two years. Cassie was now three and was undoubtedly a Malfoy. She already had the bright blonde hair and the intense grey eyes. It hurt, Al. It hurt to look at her, because all I could see was him. All I could see was him and how I had left him.

I realised that Cassie needed some form of education and not wanting to confuse her, we moved once more. We moved to Ireland where she could have an English-spoken education.

After a year in her Muggle playschool, Cassie realised that most kids her age had a Mummy and a Daddy. She started to ask where her Daddy was and why he didn't live with us. I felt an enormous feeling of guilt over me. My fear and lack of courage had robbed my baby of knowing her father.

That's why I wrote to you Al. I want Cassie to know her Daddy. I'm just afraid he won't want to know her".

By now, Lily had a few tears rolling down her cheeks. Albus moved over and took his sister in his arms. After holding her for a few minutes he whispered in her ear "He still loves you".

Lily pulled away and stared into her brother's eyes. "How do you know?" she asked, her voice quiet.

"I know because when you left, he stopped functioning. Lils, he dropped out of Auror training for a year. He didn't leave his room for five weeks and when he did, he stank of stale firewhiskey.

For the past five years he has drifted through life, almost ghostlike. You coming home would be the best thing for him, regardless of the fact that you have a child".

Lily took this in and then walked over the a small drawer and whipped out her wand. With a quick wave, her belongings were neatly packed into three boxes. She went into Cassie's room and got her. Lily then turned to Albus and said "Let's go then!"

XXXXXX

Scorpius Malfoy was sitting in the conservatory at the back of Malfoy Manor, sipping at a slowly cooling mug of tea. He was watching an albino peacock strut through the garden when he heard the fireplace in the next room go off. He turned around to see his best friend Albus walking in.

"Hi Scorp, I have someone to meet you" he said. Scorpius cocked an eyebrow, curious.

As Albus stepped to the side of the door, Scorpius saw someone he thought he would never see again. His heart sped up at the sight of her long, wavy red hair and her bright green eyes. It then stopped when he spotted the blonde toddler clutching her left hand. Without a doubt, she had his hair, his eyes, his everything to be honest. There was no denying that this little girl was his child. He looked up at Lily, and gestured that she sit on the couch opposite him.

Albus, realising that the pair needed time to talk, took Cassise by the hand and lifted her up. She giggled quietly as he tickled her gently as they left the room. He gave her a tour of the gardens, a place he knew well from years of spending his summers there. He brought her over to the peacocks, showing her how to get close to them without getting a kick in the face.

When the pair returned to the conservatory, just over half an hour later, they found Lily and Scorpius entwined in each other's arms. It was clear that they had "kissed and made up". Cassie let go of Albus' hand and ran over to her mother.

"Mummy, mummy! Who's this man?" she cried, clambering on to Lily's lap. Lily wrapped her arms around her little daughter and buried her chin in the blonde hair that was in front of her. "Cassie, honey, this is your Daddy".

Cassie turned and looked at her mother, her eyes wide. She had always wanted a Daddy. Being the innocent little five year old that she was, she immediately climbed over onto Scorpius' lap. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly – and it felt just right.


End file.
